Basic Tips for Home Bar Design

Basic Tips for Home Bar Design

Author: Monica Parpal

Published: 2013-01-09

Stocking Your Home Bar Part 1: Basic Tips for Home Bar Design
A home bar provides a place within the home to serve alcohol. Although many people settle on alcoholic beverages from their kitchen, others want a centralized entertaining space in which they can entertain and serve drinks while also storing their supplies and beverage ingredients.

Many homeowners wish to install a home bar in order to complete a single space in their home for making and serving drinks, a space where they can host and entertain guests with everything they need in a single location. A home bar, called a home wet bar when it includes a sink with running water, can take many forms. Whether you are building your bar from scratch or adding on to an existing space, think about the following basics before getting started:

Dream up the details.
Designing your own home bar affords you the opportunity to plan for everything you want and nothing you don’t. Depending on your home, your preferences and your budget, your bar may consist of anything from a simple countertop with a few shelves behind it to an elaborate wood bar complete with hanging glass racks and an in-bar kegerator. Your home décor, entertaining style and personal tastes are all important when it comes to design. Consider what components are important to you and what details you cannot live without.

Assess your budget.
Putting in a home bar is akin to any home remodeling project. You need to consider how much money you can put into the endeavor before getting started. Once you have a basic idea of the money you are able to put into the project, including the time and labor it will require and the supplies needed, you will be able to tweak your original thoughts to settle on the most realistic design for your situation.

Choose the location.
The location of your bar is the most important factor in the overall design of the structure. Many people like to build their home bars in their basements, where they have the most space to entertain. Home bars also often accompany recreation rooms where people keep their poker tables and billiards tables. In these spaces, adding a home bar can turn the room into the ultimate hang-out area. Keep in mind important factors such as plumbing requirements for sinks and power sources for refrigeration, blenders and other equipment. The plumbing requirements and available space may dictate where you can or cannot start building.

Think about size and shape.
Many people customize their home bars to fit whatever space is available. However, standard dimensions for home bars are about 42 inches tall and about 24 inches deep. Since barstools are typically 30 inches tall, you want to make sure bar top is tall enough so that your guests can sit comfortably when having a cocktail. The length and shape depends on the space you have or the overall design you want. Common bar structures are straight, L-shaped or round in shape. If you are constructing a bar yourself, you may want to consult a home fixture specialist in a hardware store. You can even view sample designs on the Internet, although there is often a fee to do so.

Consider hiring a contractor.
Like any remodeling project, you can you can choose to do the hard labor yourself, or you can contract a professional’s help. The amount of money you want to spend definitely helps determine this decision, as well as how much free time you have and how handy you are.